Reduction in pump prices not enough - Mikey

MANILA, Philippines - Oil companies should reduce fuel prices by as much as P8 per liter and not just by a few centavos for humanitarian considerations.

Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, chairman of the energy committee of the House of Representatives, said the 75-centavo and 50-centavo reductions in the pump prices of gasoline and diesel, respectively, are “not enough.”

“According to the study conducted by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the pump prices of fuel are still overpriced by at least P6 to P8 per liter,” the eldest son of President Arroyo pointed out.

“I insist the oil companies implement a full rollback of the pump prices of fuel which would reflect their true prices and not give us a pittance of a rollback which only insults our intelligence,” he said.

Arroyo pointed out that the country’s biggest oil firms – Pilipinas Shell, Petron and Chevron, dubbed as the Big 3 – have been refuting the overpricing findings by NEDA, but they have been “continuously blocking all efforts to have their books of accounts audited.”

“If they maintain they are fair enough in their pricing, then they should submit themselves to auditing and settle this issue of overpricing once and for all,” he said.

Arroyo nonetheless hailed the decision of the Big 3 to hold in abeyance any increase in the prices of liquefied petroleum gas or cooking gas.

“On the brighter side, I laud the decision of these big oil firms to defer increasing the price of LPG until next month to give people a buffer of a time to recover from the devastation brought about by ‘Ondoy’ and ‘Pepeng,’” he said.

“That’s fair enough as long as the price increase would be reflective of the true price of LPG.”

Oil companies announced Tuesday measly cuts in pump prices by 50 to 75 centavos per liter.

Roberto Kanapi, Shell spokesman, said they rolled back their prices in response to the $3 per barrel decrease in the costs of unleaded gasoline and diesel at the Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS), the pricing benchmark used by oil importers.

Unleaded gasoline prices at MOPS declined to $71.31 per barrel for the week Sept. 28 to Oct. 2 compared to $74.35 per barrel last Sept. 21-25.

Oil companies are adjusting their prices on a weekly basis to reflect what they claim is the true price of petroleum products based on international oil price movements.

Meanwhile, Petron public affairs manager Virginia Ruivivar said they would follow any directive from the government regarding price control on LPG.